I know you heard it. It was the simultaneous sound of air conditioners being snapped off for the first time in months, and the sigh of relief that involuntarily follows. It’s a sound New Orleans waits for all through the long, hot, spirit-testing summer here. It’s a harbinger of the fall, and other sounds help tell the tale, including some that speak directly to New Orleans appetites.

I’ll never forget my first Halloween in New Orleans, because it was filled with shame.

We all know that the way a Saints game ends can affect the tone of New Orleans life. Turns out the start of the game can have an impact too, and we’re seeing play out on the plate.

With fall in the air, the New Orleans tourism season is revving up after its long summer lull. It’s the happy time for the hospitality sector here. It's also a good time to acknowledge that while the tourists bring their wallets, they also carry double-edged swords. Simply put: the more New Orleans restaurants rely on them, the less these restaurants need New Orleans people.

We all know that the way a Saints game ends can affect the tone of New Orleans life. Turns out the start of the game can have an impact too, and we’re seeing play out on the plate.

Sometimes a good festival can put a focus on just why we get so fired up about certain foods. This weekend, fried chicken gets its turn, as the Fried Chicken Festival returns to Woldenberg Park along the French Quarter riverfront. This event is a gathering of the tribes of fried chicken lovers, and they are many.

Sometimes, Louisiana culture seems to run countercyclical to mainstream America. So it goes that, with Labor Day well behind us and with others putting away outdoor summertime pleasures like so many pool toys, people here are wheeling out their grills, filling up the propane tanks and wiping down their heirloom cast iron. The reason isn’t the calendar, and it really isn’t even the temperature. It’s football.

It happens to all of us. Maybe your lunch break is limited to 10 minutes, or something less than ten dollars. Maybe a sit down restaurant is out of the question, and you still won’t stoop to big chain fast food.

In New Orleans, the great meals of the past aren’t always confined to the past. Sometimes they’re the next thing you eat.

I would like to address a false rumor circulating in the news. Multiple sources are claiming that summer is almost over. For evidence, they present back-to-school stories and ads full of men’s sweaters and ladies’ boots. They even track the countdown to Labor Day weekend, as if that settles it.